Method and apparatus for dying textiles

ABSTRACT

A method of dying textiles such as hosiery, socks, rugs, tubular knit goods or the like, submerged in a tank of dye liquor which is agitated by means of air pressure from orifices beneath the surface of the dye liquor. A conventional dying tub mounted for partial rotation on a stand is filled to its uppermost level with the dye liquor. An airline inside the tank is a hollow pipe or pipes extending through the tank below the central axis thereof and has a plurality of spaced air orifices therein from which air emits under pressure controls from an air supply line outside the tube which is connected to the airline inside the tub. The dye liquor level can be increased because the conventional paddle wheel has been eliminated and the capacity has thereby been increased.

United States Patent 1191 McGee, Jr.

[4 1 Mar. 27, 1973 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DYING TEXTILES [76]Inventor: George S. McGee, Jr., c/o Alloy Fabrications, Inc., P. O. Box2538, Chattanooga, Tenn. 37407 [22] Filed: Jan. 7, 1971 [21] Appl. No.:104,553

52 us. 01 ..68/183, 68/210 51 Int. Cl.- ..D06f 17/12 [58] Field ofSearch ..68/210, 183, 184, 144, 14s

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,593,545 7 1971 Blumenkamp..68/183 2,138,080 l1/1938 Tatton et 1,788,980 1/1931 Callebaut et a].1,649,445 11/1927 Clark et al 2,075,010 3/1937 Angelus et a1.

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 516,052 12/1952 Belgium "68/183 6/1926Switzerland ..68/l83 3/1969 Germany ..68/l44 Primary Examiner-William 1.Price AttorneyPatrick F. Henry [57] ABSTRACT A method of dying textilessuch as hosiery, socks,

rugs, tubular knit goods or the like, submerged in'a tank of dye liquorwhich is agitated by means of air pressure from orifices beneath thesurface of the dye liquor. A conventional dying tub mounted 'for partialrotation on a stand is filled to its uppermost level with the dyeliquor. An airline inside the tank is a hollow pipe or pipes extendingthrough the tank below the central axis thereof and has a plurality ofspaced air orifices therein from which air emits under pressure controlsfrom an air supply line outside the tube which is connected to theairline inside the tub. The dye liquor level can be increased becausethe conventional paddle wheel has been eliminated and the capacity hasthereby been increased.

3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DYING TEXTILESBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of the Invention Textile dyeingapparatus especially stationary dyeing tubs with means for agitating thedye liquor therein.

2. Description of the Prior Art The prior art includes the presentlyknown practice of a large dyeing tub which is mounted on small shafts oneach end thereof on a large metal frame or stand which is bolted to thefloor of the plant. Inside the tub there is a mechanical agitator (knownas a paddle wheel) similar in some respects to the paddle wheel on asteamer boat and to the agitator found in a common washing machine,except being in a horizontal position, which is mechanically driven toagitate the dye liquor inside the tank in which the textiles, such ashosiery or socks, are submerged for dyeing. The tub is mounted forpartial rotation for the purpose of loading and unloading and a closureis provided on the tub for this purpose. An important thing in textiledyeing of this sort is consistency in dyeing throughout the textileproduct and accomplishing same within a minimum of time with lowest unitcost. From a cost standpoint the more articles that can be properly dyedin the same number of cubic feet of space inside the tub the less costper unit of dyed material. Mechanical agitators do not produce the bestconsistency and evenness of dyeing and the agitator itself takes up agood bit of space inside the tub. The present invention eliminatesmechanical agitation altogether and substitutes at least as goodagitation and consistency and evenness as the mechanical agitator plusproviding more space inside the tub.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is aside elevation view of a conventional dyeing tub with a portion brokenaway showing the air orlfices of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an end elevation view of the dyeing tub shown in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED METHOD AND EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1 the entireapparatus is designated generally by reference numeral 10 and comprisesa large dyeing tub or tank designated generally by reference numeral 12which is mounted on a stand or support arrangement designated generallyby reference numeral 14 which comprises an A-shaped frame designatedgenerally by 16 on each side which has a bearing journal arrangement 18at the uppermost apex thereof in which is mounted a conventional bearingarrangement 20.

The tub 12 is a large hollow shell or housing made from welded metalplate somewhat like a large tank with a large sliding door 22 thereonhaving a handle 24. The tub 12 is supported on opposite ends 26, 28thereon on respective stub shaft 30 supported in a reinforced steelplate shaft support assembly 32. Tub 1 2 is mounted for limited rotationso that the textile articles or the like may be loaded and unloaded.Conventionally, steam lines 36 are provided inside the tank and there isa drain arrangement 38 in the bottom of the tank. The stand 14 isreinforced by transverse reinforcing rods 40 extending longitudinallyfrom each frame 16 to the other frame 16 and fastened in place by nuts42. There is a therrnowell 44 and a fill line 46. Various parts of thetub 12 and the stand 14 may be reinforced by steel gusset plates 50.

The foregoing conventional prior art structure not present in the tub 12is the mechanical agitator arrangement which is conventional in theprior art and has been entirely eliminated by the present invention.Agitation is accomplished by means of air to be described hereinafter.

Inside the tub 12 at the back thereof and below the centerline of thetank represented by the longitudinal axis through the stub shaft 30 isan air line arrangement designated generally by reference numeral 54 andcomprising an air conduit, tube or pipe 56 extending from one side ofthe tank which has a projecting pipe fitting portion 58 thereon acrossthe inside of the tank in the manner shown in FIG. 1 and to the otherside of the tank where the end of the pipe 56 is supported at 60. Pipe56 has a plurality of air orifices 62 therein which are small holesdrilled through the wall of the pipe in spaced relationship in themanner shown in FIG. 1. An air line (not shown) from any compressed airsource is attached to the pipe 56 at the fitting 58. Air is pumped underpressure through the pipe 56 and emits therefrom through the variousorifices 62 therein in the form of small jet streams represented by thebrush-like lines 66 in FIG. 1. Pipe 56 is supported across the inside ofthe tub 12 by means of a small curved plate 68 welded along one edge 70inside the tank.

The air line 56 inside the tank and the air 66 emitting therefrom causesagitation or mixing of the goods which may be socks, hosiery, rugs orother textile products in the dye liquor and the speed of agitation canbe controlled by the air pressure. It is also possible to change thedirection of the agitation by the changing of the direction of themovement of the air during the dye cycle. It will be apparent to onehaving skill in the art familiar with the present invention thatadditional pipe such as 56 may be put inside the tank 12 with the airorifices 62 therein and the air 66 therefrom emitting at a directiondifferent from that shown in FIG. 1 such as downwai'dly or outwardly orinwardly or at any desired angle. This is simply a matter of providingadditional air lines 56 or changing the air lines within the tank fromtime to time and/or the size and number of orifices 62.

Tub 12 is latched in place by means of a latching plate 72 attached toone of the stub shafts 30 as shown in FIG. 2, and plate 72 has a seriesof holes 74 therein which selectively receive a removable pin device 76which bears against a leg of the A-shaped frame 16. There is anactuating means to control the movement of the tub 12 and plate 72 inthe form of a handle 80 extending from plate 72 which is manually heldwhen pin device 76 is removed from the lowermost hole 72, which placesthe tub in the upright loading position shown in FIG. 2, and the tub isallowed to tilt or rotate to the dumping or unloading position where thedoor 22 is facing towards the ground and the contents is easier toremove. Pin device 72 may be placed in any of the series of holes 74thereby positioning, selectively, the tube 12 in any one of severalpositions for example, the tub 12 does not have to be lowered tolowermost position but can be manually stopped by the actuating meanshandle 80 at a point where the door 22 faces outwardly rather thandownwardly or upwardly.

The dye liquor level inside of the tank 12 has increased because thereis no longer any paddle wheel or agitator and the space formerlyutilized by it in the same size tank 12 may now be utilized for dyeliquor and additional objects to be dyed.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of my inventiontogether with a suggested apparatus and a method to be practiced this isby way of illustration only and does not constitute any limitation onthe invention since various alterations, changes, deviations, additions,subtractions, omissions, integrations, separations, substitutions anddepartures may be made in the apparatus and method shown withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention as defined by properinterpretation thereof in the appended claims.

What is claimed:

1. Apparatus for agitating a dye liquor and goods therein such ashosiery, socks, carpet and the like:

a. a tank having opposite ends supported for movement on a supportmeans,

b. closure means-on said tank for placing the goods to be dyed in thetank and for removing same therefrom, said closure means being in the upposition on the top of said tank for loading and said tank being movableto place said closure at the bottom for dumping the contents therefromand vice versa to reload said tank,

. air means within said tank from which air emits for agitating thegoods and/or the dye liquor inside said tank,

d. said support means comprising a pair of spaced bearing supports andsaid tank being supported on respective shafts on respective endsthereof and in said respective bearing support, whereby said tank isrotatable from an up loading position to a down dumping position and tomove said closure from one position to the other,

e. adjustable latching means releasable to unlock the tank for rotationfrom one position to another, and

f. actuating means operable to control the movement of said tank fromone position to another.

2. The device claimed in claim 1, wherein:

there is a conduit inside said tank through which said air travels, saidconduit having a plurality of air orifices therein.

3. The device in claim 2 said conduit being located below the centerline of said tank and near one side thereof.

1. Apparatus for agitating a dye liquor and goods therein such ashosiery, socks, carpet and the like: a. a tank having opposite endssupported for movement on a support means, b. closure means on said tankfor placing the goods to be dyed in the tank and for removing sametherefrom, said closure means being in the up position on the top ofsaid tank for loading and said tank being movable to place said closureat the bottom for dumping the contents therefrom and vice versa toreload said tank, c. air means within said tank from which air emits foragitating the goods and/or the dye liquor inside said tank, d. saidsupport means comprising a pair of spaced bearing supports and said tankbeing supported on respective shafts on respective ends thereof and insaid respective bearing support, whereby said tank is rotatable from anup loading position to a down dumping position and to move said closurefrom one position to the other, e. adjustable latching means releasableto unlock the tank for rotation from one position to another, and f.actuating means operable to control the movement of said tank from oneposition to another.
 2. The device claimed in claim 1, wherein: there isa conduit inside said tank through which said air travels, said conduithaving a plurality of air orifices therein.
 3. The device in claim 2said conduit being located below the center line of said tank and nearone side thereof.